Forget Rocky & Creed, Netflix’s 2-Season Action Thriller Is Your Next Boxing Drama Fix

The Rocky franchise is all set to expand with Creed‘s potential sequels and spinoffs in the near future, but while waiting for its return, audiences must check out Netflix‘s equally compelling 2-season boxing drama. The action thriller in question has had a solid 15-episode run so far and will potentially get better if it gets to return in the future.

When it comes to the portrayal of boxing and martial arts in the audiovisual storytelling medium, quite a few franchises and standalone films have grown in the ranks to become cultural touchstones. While franchises like Rocky and The Karate Kid helped define the genre for mainstream audiences, newer boxing movies like Southpaw and Bleed For This have carried the genre forward with their unflinching realism.

In terms of realism, Netflix’s k-drama, Bloodhounds, is far from ranking among the best boxing dramas. However, when it comes to delivering adrenaline-fueled action scenes and pushing the stylistic boundaries of martial arts thrillers, Bloodhounds easily beats some of the best franchises of the genre. This makes it the perfect series for hard-hitting combat sports dramas like Rocky and Creed.

Netflix’s Bloodhounds Is The Perfect Show For Rocky & Creed Fans

Outside the boxing ring, the drama in both Creed and Rocky is primarily grounded in familial themes surrounding legacy and redemption. Although Bloodhounds takes a similar approach, it unfolds more as a gritty thriller while following the struggles of a rising boxing underdog, Gun-woo. Like Rocky, the Netflix Korean show‘s main hero is a talented young boxer who hopes to make a name for himself in his sport.

However, to his dismay, he gets embroiled with some predatory loan sharks who force him to fight even harder in the streets of Seoul than in the boxing ring. The sport of boxing in itself eventually becomes a solid metaphor for his survival in a world where everything tries to take him down.

Like Rocky and Creed, Gun-woo has all the odds in the world stacked up against him. However, he never lets his guard down and keeps moving forward with one jab after another. In terms of realism, Bloodhounds is far less plausible than Creed and Rocky. Since the show is based on a Webtoon, it intentionally relies on anime-esque logic and often stretches the suspension of disbelief with its action.

Despite this, though, Bloodhounds‘ action scenes feel incredibly immersive even when its protagonist takes down multiple villains at once. In season 2, Gun-woo’s dynamic with his best friend-turned-coach also feels reminiscent of Adonis’ relationship with Rocky. Like Rocky and Adonis, Gun-woo and Woo-jin also overcome many challenges together to ensure Gun-woo becomes a better boxer.

Similar to Creed 3, Bloodhounds also makes incredible use of stylistic camera work and tightly choreographed fight sequences to heighten the impact of each on-screen punch and the emotional stakes they carry. Although Bloodhounds is a unique addition to the combat sports genre and manages to etch its own identity, its shared themes with Rocky and Creed make it perfect for fans of the Hollywood franchise.

Bloodhounds Season 2 Is Even Better Than Season 1

Soyun Jeon, Seowoo Jung / Netflix

Bloodhounds season 1 proved to be a thrilling adaptation of Jeong Chan’s hit Webtoon. However, the show’s first installment had a few shortcomings that held it back from being as epic as other gritty action dramas, like Weak Hero and Mercy For None, on Netflix. In season 2, however, the show effectively raises the stakes of its drama and leaves no dull moments with its action sequences.

Almost every episode in Bloodhounds season 2 ends with a white-knuckling action sequence that combines realistic boxing with over-the-top cinematic flair.

Even the show’s central “bro-mance” feels all the more endearing, as Woo Do-hwan’s and Lee Sang-yi on-screen chemistry continues to thrive. Bloodhounds season 2 also adds a whole new villain to the mix who is brilliantly portrayed by Rain of the Ninja Assassin fame.

While Bloodhounds season 2 takes quite a few logical leaps from time to time, its escalating action ensures that viewers stick to it throughout its seven-episode runtime. Calling it a Rocky and Creed replacement would be a bit of a stretch. However, like the two boxing movies, the Netflix show promises to deliver an awe-inspiring underdog story driven by resilience and sheer grit.